GEOTECHNICAL AND TRACK ENGINEERING
A new approach to renewals
Steve Featherstone, director of track infrastructure projects at Network Rail, describes the new track relaying system which is making the most of short possession times.
T
ighter access windows for maintenance work on the railway and higher passenger
demands prompted Network Rail to invest serious energy into engineering innovative solutions to renew track and ballast.
The development of a new high output track relaying system allows the railway to be kept open for longer, whilst tackling track renewal quickly and effi ciently. Old track, ballast and sleepers are removed and replaced in a continuous process in record time, minimising disruption to services.
RTM spoke to Network Rail’s director of track infrastructure projects, Steve Featherstone, about the new system and its advantages.
A better way
In the past when engineering work was needed, Network Rail could take possession of the railway for a whole weekend – which is often
no longer acceptable, or even feasible, given the number of passengers wishing to travel and the demands of the TOCs.
Featherstone said: “Occasionally we still have to do that, but more and more people are saying ‘Actually we want to use the weekends to travel on trains, we don’t want to be on buses’, is there a better way?”
Possessions have been reduced to typically 6-8 hours on midweek nights and slightly longer at the weekend. Renewing the railway in such constrained timescales resulted in the development of machinery such as ballast cleaners and track renewal systems (TRS).
The ballast cleaners remove around 12 inches of ballast from underneath the rails, clean and recycle it, with around half going back in, alongside 50% new ballast. The cleaner works at around 400-500 metres per hour.
This is much more effi cient than traditional solutions, as it allows Network Rail to complete work in the 6-8 hour window of access.
Including time to set up and clear off the track before the start of service, Featherstone estimated they get 2 to 3 hours of good production in the middle of this window.
The TRS removes existing sleepers and track and replaces the whole lot. This typically runs at around 300 metres per hour once it’s up and running, Featherstone explained.
As a “hugely proud” professional engineer, Featherstone described the equipment as “one of the most fantastic bits of kit I have ever seen”.
He added: “It is mechanical engineering at its best: when you see it going at full tilt, it is just amazing”.
46 | rail technology magazine Oct/Nov 12
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